Wife of Writer Hopeful for Safe Return

Published 7:00 pm, Tuesday, January 21, 2003

The wife of an American journalist believed kidnapped in Panama said Wednesday she received assurances from U.S. diplomats that efforts to free her husband and two travel companions are going well.

Linda Pelton said the U.S. Embassy in Bogota, Colombia, told her that the leader of the Colombian paramilitary group suspected of abducting Robert Young Pelton and the two others has promised to free them.

"I'm confident that he is safe," she said from her home in Redondo Beach, just outside Los Angeles.

Pelton, Megan Smaker and Mark Wedeven were reportedly seized Sunday by the right-wing United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia just north of the Colombian border in Panama.

All three were initially identified in Panamanian media as journalists, but that remained unconfirmed Wednesday.

Smaker, 22, of Brentwood, is a seasonal firefighter with the state, said Karen Terrill, spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Terrill said she didn't know if Smaker also worked as a journalist.

Panamanian authorities said they hadn't confirmed Wedeven's age or hometown.

On Wednesday, Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso flew to the jungle where the three went missing following the paramilitary group's raid on an Indian village. Four locals were killed in the attack.

In a statement, John Rasmus, editor in chief of National Geographic Adventure, said Pelton was in the area working on a project he proposed for the magazine. The statement said Wedeven and Smaker were Pelton's travel companions.

"We're hopeful that the situation will be resolved quickly and peacefully," Rasmus said.

Pelton, a 47-year-old freelance journalist, interviewed American Taliban suspect John Walker Lindh while covering the war in Afghanistan for CNN.

He is also the author of "The World's Most Dangerous Places," a guide book to the world's conflict zones.